{"id":241014,"date":"2021-03-04T17:37:52","date_gmt":"2021-03-04T23:37:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=241014"},"modified":"2021-03-03T23:26:57","modified_gmt":"2021-03-04T05:26:57","slug":"illinois-capital-paid-family-leave-city-employees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/illinois-capital-paid-family-leave-city-employees\/","title":{"rendered":"Illinois’ capital plans to offer paid family leave to all city employees"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

The city council of Illinois’ capital of Springfield recently voted 6-4 in favor of setting aside funds to offer four weeks of paid maternity\/paternity leave to all city employees. Approximately $300,000 was earmarked in the city’s fiscal year 2022 budget to cover the estimated expenses of providing paid family leave for the 1,300 city workers.<\/p>\n

Historically, the city of Springfield has operated in accordance with the federal Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA) guidelines<\/a>, which require that covered employees receive up to 12 weeks of job-protected, unpaid<\/em> leave to care for a newborn child within the first year of life. City workers were allowed to use accrued paid vacation or sick days during that time. Under the new plan, all employees \u2014 union and non-union \u2014 who have been employed for at least one year, will be eligible to take up to four weeks of paid<\/em> maternity or paternity leave.<\/p>\n

Springfield alderwoman Erin Conley proposed the policy change,\u00a0calling<\/a>\u00a0it “an important addition to our terms of employment for the city.” While several council members objected on the grounds that the city budget could not afford the new budget line item, Conley stated<\/a>\u00a0that the policy’s potential to improve employee retention made it “an investment in building and maintaining our workforce, which is a value that we really can’t underestimate.” Of note, on average<\/a>, only 31 of the city’s 1,300 employees take maternity or paternity leave each year. By comparison, the state of Illinois offers its employees up to 10 weeks of paid maternity or paternity leave.<\/p>\n

The National League of Cities (NLC) has previously advocated<\/a> for cities to offer paid maternal or paternal leave, citing numerous benefits for children, mothers, and fathers. The NLC says benefits to children include decreased rates of low birth weight, fewer infant deaths, and increased rates of breastfeeding. For mothers, paid parental leave is said to correlate with a “reduced risk for experiencing symptoms of\u00a0postpartum depression<\/a>.” When it comes to new dads, “the length of leave offered is\u00a0positively correlated<\/a>\u00a0with involvement with families.”<\/p>\n

READ:\u00a0Why \u2018life of the mother\u2019 exceptions for abortion are unnecessary<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

While the city must still vote on formally changing the policy, Springfield Major Jim Langfelder was clear that the city will move forward with the change. “Once you set this [money] aside, we’re going forward with it. I don’t see anybody taking the vote to set aside funds and not follow through with the vote,” he\u00a0said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While few cities nationwide have recognized the benefits of offering paid family leave to their employees thus far, Live Action News has previously reported on other trends<\/a> in support of family wellbeing and stability, including paid bereavement leave<\/a> for women and couples who experience a miscarriage. Interestingly, the Springfield City Council’s arguably pro-life move comes amidst broader efforts at the state level to overturn Illinois’ last meaningful pro-life abortion restriction<\/a>, the Illinois Parental Notice of Abortion Act, which requires that parents be notified within 24 hours of a scheduled abortion appointment for their minor daughters.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike\u201d Live Action News on Facebook<\/a>\u00a0for more pro-life news and commentary!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The city council of Illinois’ capital of Springfield recently voted 6-4 in favor of setting aside funds to offer four weeks of paid maternity\/paternity leave to all city employees. Approximately $300,000 was earmarked in the city’s fiscal year 2022 budget to cover the estimated expenses of providing paid family leave for the 1,300 city workers. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":635,"featured_media":186236,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[3473,11],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nIllinois' capital plans to offer paid family leave to all city employees<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Springfield, Illinois City Council voted in favor of setting aside funds to\u00a0offer four weeks of paid maternity or paternity leave to city employees.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/illinois-capital-paid-family-leave-city-employees\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Illinois' capital plans to offer paid family leave to all city 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